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1991 The Horn of emptiness

Sandstorm, Somalia 1991

Ethiopa, May 1991
Somali villagers and pastoralists who have fled the fighting and drought conditions in their own country wait for international aid. Thousands of villagers crossed borders into Ethiopia and Kenya, then languished in makeshift tent camps.One of the largest settlements visited was in Kalafo, in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia bordering Somalia.

Refugee camp, Kalafo, Ethiopia 1991

Ethiopa, May 1991
Somali villagers and pastoralists who have fled the fighting and drought conditions in their own country wait for international aid. Thousands of villagers crossed borders into Ethiopia and Kenya, then languished in makeshift tent camps.One of the largest settlements visited was in Kalafo, in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia bordering Somalia.

Somali Refugee, 1991

Empty bowls, Ethiopia 1991

In Ethiopia's arid south-east embracing the Eastern Hararghe, Ogaden and Dire Dawa regions, more than 700,000 residents are experiencing their second straight year of severe drought. By mid-year they were joined by 600,000 refugees from Somalia, including 200,000 "returnees" - former Ogaden residents who fled to Somalia in 1977 when the two countries fought a war over possession of the region.
Ethiopia May 1991

Seeking food aid, Ethiopia 1991

In Ethiopia's arid south-east embracing the Eastern Hararghe, Ogaden and Dire Dawa regions, more than 700,000 residents are experiencing their second straight year of severe drought. By mid-year they were joined by 600,000 refugees from Somalia, including 200,000 "returnees" - former Ogaden residents who fled to Somalia in 1977 when the two countries fought a war over possession of the region.

Ethiopa, May 1991
Somali villagers and pastoralists who have fled the fighting and drought conditions in their own country wait for international aid. Thousands of villagers crossed borders into Ethiopia and Kenya, then languished in makeshift tent camps.One of the largest settlements visited was in Kalafo, in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia bordering Somalia.

Ethiopa, May 1991
Somali villagers and pastoralists who have fled the fighting and drought conditions in their own country wait for international aid. Thousands of villagers crossed borders into Ethiopia and Kenya, then languished in makeshift tent camps.One of the largest settlements visited was in Kalafo, in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia bordering Somalia.

In Ethiopia's arid south-east embracing the Eastern Hararghe, Ogaden and Dire Dawa regions, more than 700,000 residents are experiencing their second straight year of severe drought. By mid-year they were joined by 600,000 refugees from Somalia, including 200,000 "returnees" - former Ogaden residents who fled to Somalia in 1977 when the two countries fought a war over possession of the region.
Ethiopia May 1991

In Ethiopia's arid south-east embracing the Eastern Hararghe, Ogaden and Dire Dawa regions, more than 700,000 residents are experiencing their second straight year of severe drought. By mid-year they were joined by 600,000 refugees from Somalia, including 200,000 "returnees" - former Ogaden residents who fled to Somalia in 1977 when the two countries fought a war over possession of the region.

In 1991 war and drought had brought the Horn of Africa to the edge of the precipice. I went on my own initiative, picking up work for Unicef on an irregular basis once I was there. It was the real beginning for me as a photojournalist. I had to ask these questions: Is it right to make these pictures? Is famine "pornography" worse than indifference? Does any of it do any good? Most viewers will likely have already made up their minds on these thorny issues.

In 2011 another famine swept through the same region, and war continued to impede the relief effort. The images flickering across the internet looked so strikingly similar to what I had seen in 1991 that I went back to look at what I had done twenty years earlier. The answers to those questions still elude me, so I left the photographing to others.